Lull and Storm
by jubileebird
Summary: AU. This is the story of Leon Kirkland, captain of the merchant ship Bauhinia, who is shipwrecked in one dark, terrible, stormy night, and Eirik Danmorsson, the young merman, who, against all the rules of his kind, pulls Leon to safety and stays to make sure he's not dead. Eventual HongIce.
1. Chapter 1

This is actually part of the collab with Eylenda, too, but I decided it was way too long to be fit into one chapter, into a oneshot, so this will most likely be a twoshot, or more.

Prompt: Lull and Storm.

This is AU. Hong Kong and Iceland belong to Hidekaz Himaruya, I take no credit for anything but the story itself.

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It was a dark and stormy night, as nights like these usually go- lightning, thunder, rolling waves that could turn a ship over and dash it to pieces against rocks, sharp, huge rocks that loomed over the small harbour there, lighting up for seconds as lightning flashed, made more ominous by the storm and the waves. The lighthouse, hidden in the trees, which had grown taller than the building since the building had been built, flashed its light weakly, barely cutting through the thick sheet of rain and cold fog.

A lone ship, tall and proud against the storm, struggled to make it into harbour, her sailors rushing to and fro, shouting orders that were quickly lost in the wind and thunder, taking sails down and pulling ropes. Their first mate, a tall, lanky young man with dark hair and dark eyes, called orders, even as he ran back and forth, unusually quick, his footing steady, on the slippery wood that made up the forecastle. His long bangs stuck to his face, got into his eyes, not that it really complicated things, since the rain made it impossible to see, anyway... The wheel, under his hands, kept the ship steady, or as steady as she could be, buffeted on all sides by rain and wind and storm.

Another boy, a mer-boy, lounged on the slippery, sharp rocks the human boy was so keen to avoid, watching impassively. He was interested, of course, more interested in the upper world than he had a right to be, according to his brothers, and thought the weather was bad, he couldn't help but watch the ship, and especially the human who seemed to be in charge of everything. Besides, he reasoned to himself, short of getting struck by lightning, he had nothing to fear. Water was his natural element, after all.

The sea heaved once again, and a sail not yet taken down caught an unwanted wind, and the ship lurched towards the merman, and the human boy swore, wiping his face of rain with an equally wet shirt sleeve, his eyes widening in shock when he saw the mer-boy, sitting there, lit for a moment by a flash of lightning, white hair whipping about in the wind, blue-purple eyes piercing even in this gloom, and the unmistakable fishtail, long and sinuous, pale blue-green-purple-white scales glittering. And he swore again, jerking the wheel to the side, because, of course, his ship was set to hit the creature, whatever he'd seen.

The mer-boy's own eyes, framed with white, frost-like lashes, widened at the unexpected closeup of the human he'd been watching, and as the lightning faded, he turned and dove into the waters of his home, swimming away as fast as he could, reeling in shock. A human had seen him, a _human_, a human boy... it was forbidden, one of the oldest rules of his people, and _he'd just broken it..._

Above the turbulent waves, the human boy fought to keep his ship under control, yelling orders until his voice was hoarse, and then he kept yelling, praying silently to whatever gods were up there, anything that could help, anything at all, to save his crew, save his ship, save them all. The strange boy... mer-boy? had completely slipped his mind.

But the storm just got worse, and the ship wasn't getting anywhere, especially as it was blown the opposite way of which it wanted to go, and the crew grew exhausted with trying to stay alive, by this point running only on sheer adrenaline. And the human boy knew that they didn't have much longer, even with their best efforts, and ah, it was so hard to see, and think, and hear, by this point... The storm had effectively deadened everything.

And a especially strong gust of wind blew the ship over, and the waves dashed it against the rocks, over and over... The crew struggled to escape, it was every man for himself now, see? Their first mate ordered them to go, go, save themselves, making sure they were all out before he himself kicked his boots off and dove over side, crashing into the water with a spray of bubbles, and then he knew no more.

From a safe distance away, the mer-boy watched the ship, doomed from the first raindrop that had fallen, crash, rather impressed with the dark-haired human's efforts. He must have been strong, to hold it together for so long... For the mer-boy knew the sea, had known the sea all his life, and knew that when she wanted something, she got it, and everything she wanted would fall into her waters, sooner or later. And the human boy was certainly hers to claim... But what was this? Curious despite himself, the mer-boy swam out to where he'd seen the human fall into the water, so clumsy- all humans were so clumsy in the water, none of them had the grace and the beauty of the merpeople- and searched for him, and found him, floundering like a fish in a net, screaming underwater for air, air that wasn't there, struggling to stay alive, kicking and flailing.

And the mer-boy, against everything his people stood for and against nearly every single rule he'd been taught as soon as he'd been hatched, because merpeople were born from eggs, as fish were, the mer-boy saved the human one, pulling him from the water into a sheltered cave, watching in fascination as the human boy coughed up water- ah, so it was true, humans couldn't breathe both air and water, the silly things- and going for an occasional swim, because even though he could breathe air, it was uncomfortable and difficult, and he much preferred breathing water.

The human boy woke around the second day, and blinked up at the blue, blue sky, seen from the mouth of the cave, though it was more of an opening in the rocks, lightheaded from lack of food and water. The mer-boy watched from a safe distance, frowning a little, wondering if he should have just gone with the conventional way and pulled him down to drown... But this human was interesting. Mesmerising, in a way. Considerably more interesting awake than unconcious, at any rate. The sunlight sparked off of his eyelashes when he blinked, and the dazed look in his eyes was rather... cute. Not that the mer-boy was thinking, anything of course. They were different species, after all.

"Who are you?" The mer-boy looked up, startled, at the human boy in front of him, too surprised to speak. Yes, he understood human speech, having been around them for so long, but he'd never expected to be actually talking to one. The human raised an eyebrow- very curious eyebrows, he had, thicker than most the mer-boy had seen- and frowned a little. "Who. Are. You?" he repeated.

"...I think you owe me a name first," the mer-boy retorted, backing away into the water, taking care to hide the lower half of his body, not that it really mattered, since his fingers were webbed, and he bore the telltale pale grey-blue spots on his shoulders and elbows and cheeks near his ears, stark against his pale skin, that most merpeople had. Not to mention he had gill-slits, along his neck... "...After all, I saved you from dying." Was that a smile on the human's face? He wasn't... disgusted, after all? Most humans seemed to be disgusted by them. Either that, or way too interested...

"Ah, but I asked first," the boy on the rocks pointed out, seemingly content to just kneel there and talk to his strange saviour. But then, his expression was so blank, really, it was hard to tell... The mer-boy huffed.

"...Ice. My name is Ice," he muttered, considering whether to splash the human or not. Or would it be considered childish? Seeing the distinct look of disbelief in the other's brown eyes, he added reluctantly, "...Eirikur. Call me Ice."

The human boy swept Ice a mannerly bow, ignoring the lightheadedness from two days without food or water. It wasn't that bad, really, from experience, he knew he had two or three more days, at most. "Pleased to meet you, Eirikur. Ice. My name is Xue-Zhong, call me Xue." Ice disappeared from view under the water, and resurfaced a little over a metre closer, studying his human- yes, he had decided that Xue was _his_ human, now- closely.

"_Are_ you pleased to meet me?" he wondered, tilting his head curiously. "...I do believe you are. Humans are so strange." After all, Xue had already seen his fingers, and even his tail, that stormy night. Ice saw no harm in implying that he wasn't human. Wasn't it obvious already?

"...Unless they're jerks, I'm pleased to meet most people," Xue answered quietly, something like a smile in his dark, dark eyes, which vanished as quickly as it'd come. "Besides, you saved me. Thank you for that." The mer-boy studied the human one, amused despite himself.

"...Good to know, then." Xue got up, stretching, staggering a little as his head spun, not that Ice thought it unusual- after all, what did he know of walking? "...I should go, check on my crew and try to go back..."

"No!" The word spilled from the merman's lips before he could think. As the human turned to look at him, astonished, Ice quickly amended, "...Your... crew? are dead, I've seen no other survivors, and, and... your ship is... not sailable, there, see?"

Xue followed the arrow of the merman's slender white arm to look out over the now calm water glittering in the afternoon sun, out at the wreckage of his ship, and his face fell, so quickly, he looked like a completely different person. Ice felt compelled to reassure him, tell him that there would be other ships, but the reassurance fell silent on his lips. No human, not even this one, could be allowed to tell others that merpeople existed. And no one could be trusted. Those were the rules...

As the merman watched, uncomprehending yet touched, the human stood there, head bowed, utterly silent. And it was a long time before that silence was broken.

"...I have to get back somehow," he said quietly, turning to Ice, his eyes bright with tears. "_Somehow_... there must be a way. Please, Ice. I swear I won't tell..." Ice pulled himself from the water, and Xue knelt to sit by him.

"I can't," he answered simply, raising a webbed hand to brush at the single tear that leaked from the human's eye. "...I broke so many rules just to save you... What is this, Xue?" Ice stared at the little tear on his finger, feeling that it must hold some special meaning, but not understanding what it was... after all, he'd never seen one before, had never known what it was to cry.

Xue stared at him for a moment, then moved to brush the tear away from Ice's finger, shaking his head. "...It's a tear," he answered quietly. "Humans shed them from their eyes in times of sadness, anger, happiness or frustration... Ah, your pardon." For Ice had flinched at the human contact, not used to feeling something so dry against his skin. Ice shrugged, letting his hand fall to dip itself into the sea. Xue looked away, staring sadly at the piles of salt-stained, water-warped wood that used to be his pride and joy, and an uncomfortable silence ensued.

"...I'm sorry," Ice said awkwardly after a while, staring at his long, slim, pale fingers, the blue-grey spots on the tips, the pale, translucent webbing between them. They were so different from the human's strange, peach and honey coloured skin, like the coral that some of his cousins spoke about, in oceans far away... but not quite. This was different. And human fingers were _warm_... The sea was cold, always cold, even on the hottest days, except for those rare pockets of warm water.

Xue shook his head, combing his fingers through salt-stiff brown-black locks. "...It's fine," he answered with a light sigh, resigned. "I understand..." And, looking at him, Ice felt an unfamiliar tightness in his chest, and his eyes pricked with _something_, but could not imagine what it was. It was like his heart hurt... But that was impossible. Was it?

To get his mind off of this, he blurted out, "...Want food?" and slipped back into the water and swam away before waiting for an answer before Xue could reply. He returned soon after, with several large oysters, which he flicked open with a slim finger and held out, looking away. "... Humans can eat these, right?"

Xue blinked before taking the offering, prying out the meat inside with deft fingers- almost as nimble as a merperson's, Ice noticed with mild approval- and holding out part of it. "...Do you eat it, too? Would you like some?" Ice shook his head.

"...I don't like oysters," he lied. The human looked so hungry, and Ice himself had had meals over the last couple of days. "You can have them." Xue regarded him for a solemn moment, then placed an oyster beside the merman.

"...We can share, I'm not that hungry," he answered quietly. "It's good for friends to share food together..." And with that, Xue devoured his own share, movements quick and precise and careful. Ice watched him for a moment, seeing that the human clearly wasn't going to touch the oyster he'd singled out for the merman, then took it, eating slowly.

As Ice finished up, Xue tapped his fingertips against his tongue, savouring the last bits of oyster, perfectly seasoned with the salt of the water. Ice stared for a moment before flushing and turning away. What was this heat in his cheeks? It was at once embarrassing and unfamiliar... Xue blinked at the merman, slightly confused, then turned to watch the sun set.

"...Look, Ice," he said softly, noticing. "There are no clouds on the horizon..." His companion turned to stare at the west, uncomprehending. What did he know of the surface world? Xue saw this, and explained quietly, "It's rare when there are no clouds all the way to the horizon... on evenings like this, you get to see the sun just... disappear into the waves. Beautiful, isn't it...? This is only the third time I've ever seen this, and... I've been on the waves nearly my entire life."

Ice nodded quietly, and lay in the water, watching the sun sink slowly into the water, its brilliant rays glittering over the waves with no clouds to hide its glory. And the two of them sat, human and merman, side by side, watching, until the last of it disappeared, and then there was darkness, and they went to sleep.

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I have no idea how long this might be, twoshot, threeshot, maybe more, it really depends... But, I hope you like it, and review, please!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two of Lull and Storm out of I have no idea.

I don't own Hetalia, Iceland or Hong Kong. I do have a little clay statue of a mermaid, though.

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Xue woke up not long after dawn the morning after, blinking sleepily at the Ice-less water, yawned, and decided to go for a swim. After all, he hardly had the strength to swim all the way to the nearest shoreline, and it would wake him up... He stood up, and stripped off his battered, ripped shirt, diving into the clear water and turning a somersault, exulting in the fact that he was strong enough to swim, now. He'd always been a quick healer, and the water, the ocean, was his friend and his enemy, his work and his hobby, his life, and eventually, he'd no doubt that it would be his death.

Ice came swimming back, having gone out to catch a little breakfast, and saw Xue in the water, and panicked. After all, he had no way of knowing humans were capable of surviving in water. He didn't know Xue could swim, and of course thought he was getting himself killed again. "Xue!" he called, and the human turned, astonished, then waved and kicked his way back up the the surface, treading water as he waited for Ice.

"What were you- how- you could have died!" Ice spluttered as soon as he came up. Xue tilted his head, and turned another somersault in the water.

"...Humans are capable of swimming," he answered mildly. "_I_ can swim. Not during storms, but I can swim..." The merman's eyes narrowed. Ice hadn't known that.

"You'd best not escape," he informed the human boy. Xue shook his head.

"That would be a fine way to repay your hospitality," he answered dryly. "No, you have my word that I won't go anywhere off this island and its surrounding waters without your knowledge." Ice stared at him for a long, long moment, wondering if he should trust the word of a human, even one as odd as this one- didn't his _tail_ surprise him at all? Apparently not... before scoffing and turning away.

"...What is the word of a _human_ worth?" Xue heard the other murmur, almost sadly, as Ice swam away again. Xue stared after the mer-boy, and how graceful he appeared in the water, how his fins dipped and splashed, then shook his head, clearing it of all thought. No, no, no... he had to get back to his city, back to his previous life on the seas, transporting fine goods for his brother the merchant... But as he looked around him, the tall buildings of Hong Kong and the rough docks he was accustomed to returning to every few months seemed ever further, compared with this beautiful little rocky island in the middle of nowhere.

Of course, if he ever went back, he'd miss Ice, too, but he ignored that particular detail, and set off to explore, spending his day getting to know the little island Ice had brought him to.

At evening, as if by some unbidden, unvoiced agreement, they met again, at the shallow cove they'd spent the last evening watching the sunset at. Ice thrust a fish at him and looked away, muttering about how he'd already eaten. Xue took it, blinking, but face otherwise its usual emotionless self, and set a handful of berries down in the sand by Ice's shoulder and went off a little ways to clean and gut the fish, and put it on a stick for roasting. Ice looked at the berries curiously, but didn't touch them, instead watching the human at work.

"...What are you doing?" he asked after a while. Xue didn't paused in his work as he answered.

"...Cleaning the fish and preparing it like humans do. You wouldn't know what a fire is, would you?" As he spoke, a small flame flickered under his hands, helped along by dried wood and leaves. Xue added twigs to the blaze, coaxing it into life, then placed small logs on it when he was sure it wouldn't die. Ice watched with interest. He'd never quite seen anything like... what was it called again? A... fire? Strange word. But it seemed almost alive, the way it danced... And the sticks, that was what it ate, right? And Xue had created it... how curious.

"...It's pretty," he breathed, reaching out a webbed hand to touch it. Before the tip of a pale finger could touch it, Xue grabbed his hand with a shout, something akin to panic in his eyes, then let go just as quickly, since Ice had shied away from his own touch last night.

"I-I..." Xue shook his head quickly, sticking the branch he'd speared the fish on by the fire- close enough to roast, not close enough to burn, and burying the gills and stuff he'd cleaned off the fish. "Don't do that, okay? Fire is dangerous. It can burn you... Don't ever touch it."

Ice had pulled his hand back as soon as Xue had let go, and was now holding it close to his chest, watching both human and fire with a slight fear. "...Burn?" he asked quietly. Xue hadn't hurt him yet. Not really. Humans weren't to be trusted, but... this one... seemed okay. Maybe. "What is... burn?"

Xue tossed him a sidealong glance, and Ice noticed that as the sun was setting, the... fire... seemed to be giving off its own light. How curious. It was like those rare plants that grew in the deeps, that few mermen ventured to gather, since light never traveled down there, and there were untold monsters... or at least that was what his brothers had always told him. Ice himself had never seen these dangerous plants, but he imagined that this fire might be like them. Denny had described them to him, but since it was very hard to make sense of whatever Denny said...

"...It hurts," Xue answered quietly after a moment. "It's painful, very much so, and it will heal, at least for humans, I don't know if merpeople have ever been burned... But please don't try. I don't want you to get hurt." He paused, then added, staring into the flames, so quietly Ice wasn't quite sure if it wasn't a figment of his imagination, "...Ever."

The merman stared at the human for a long moment, then dropped his gaze to the berries Xue'd left beside him, poking them gingerly with the tip of a finger. "...What are these?"

Xue turned the fish so the other side could cook, then went over to Ice, being careful to stay a certain distance away from the merman, so Ice wouldn't be uncomfortable. "...Berries. Food. Try them." Ice stared at him, still uncertain. Xue sighed quietly, then reached over and took two berries at random, tossing one up in a neat arc that ended in his mouth. He chewed and swallowed, then popped the other one in his mouth and tilted his head at Ice, arching an eyebrow. Ice blinked at him for a moment, then took one, studying it curiously, before throwing it at Xue, wanting to see if the human would catch it in his mouth, as he had before.

Xue caught it in his hand out of reflex more than anything else, then stared at Ice, who pouted, disappointed. "Don't you catch it in your mouth?" he queried.

"Uh... only when I want to," Xue replied, blinking in astonishment.

"...Catch this one, then." And another berry was hurled towards the human.

Xue, to give the other a bit more of a show, waited until the last second, then flicked his head to the side, catching the berry neatly between his teeth, then eating it. Ice smiled a little before chucking another one at him, and then another, and then another, until he was laughing, bright peals of laughter, at the ridiculous expressions Xue had taken to wearing when he caught the little fruits. All for Ice's amusement, of course.

Finally, Ice's supply of berries was exhausted, and Xue leaned back, and carefully retrieved his dinner from nearby the fire and bit off a chunk carefully, chewing thoughtfully. "...Are you sure you've eaten already?" Ice nodded, watching Xue curiously, and the now golden-brown skin of the previously silvery-white fish, exhausted of questions about humans at the moment.

He waited until Xue was done, then asked curiously, "...What's the human world like? Where do you come from? Do you have family? How-" Xue held up his hands, laughing quietly, then paused, as if he himself wasn't used to hearing his own laugh. It had been a long time, after all. Ice blinked up at him, pale violet-purple-blue eyes wide.

"Woah, there," he answered quietly, smiling a little. "One at a time, please. The human world... _my_ world..." He paused, shifting to get comfortable, and ended up laying down, his head rather close to Ice, then continued, "It's varied and different and colourful, I suppose... I can't really describe it. But my city, Hong Kong..." Xue sighed softly, as one would thinking of their lover. "Hong Kong is beautiful. During the day, it's so busy, you get caught up in the flow of life there. I come from the part of Hong Kong called Kowloon, though... in the early morning, when I usually wake up, when I'm in Hong Kong, anyway, it's so quiet, so sleepy, almost... the shops are just beginning to open when I have to sail away again... But at night, though, if I pull into harbour at night, there are lights flickering, everywhere... like the fire, Ice. It's beautiful, my city... Ah, I'm sorry, I'm rambling, and you probably don't even know half of what I'm talking about..."

Ice leaned out from the water, propping his weight on his elbows and leaning over to very, very lightly, trace the outline of Xue's eyes and the bridge of his nose, the line of his cheek, exploring curiously. Other than pulling Xue from the water, he'd never touched a human before, but since Xue merely closed his eyes and let him be, he saw no problem in seeing what exactly a human was. "...You miss it there," he said quietly. It wasn't a question, but Xue nodded anyway.

"...Yes."

Ice pulled back a little, staring at Xue's peaceful face, the way his eyelashes fluttered as he breathed. Humans were beautiful, if all of them were like this one, he mused, just... staring. The colour of this one was like sunlight on water, the sunlight in the early, early morning. Or that was the closest he could come to, anyway. His own smooth skin was closer to white than to Xue's, since it never really saw sunlight until recently. Not sunlight that didn't get filtered by the waves, anyway.

Xue's eyes blinked open, so very like that first day Ice had saw him wake, though they were much closer now. There couldn't have been... what, half a metre? Between their faces. The human smiled slightly, as if happy to see Ice's face, webbed ears and wild eyes and inhumanly white skin and all. "Did I doze off?" he asked quietly, making no move to get up. "I'm sorry..." Ice shook his head, but retreated slightly. Xue blinked. "Am I too close to you? Shall I move away?" Ice made no answer.

Their eyes met, brown human's and the myriad of colours that were the merman's irises, and locked, silently, for a moment of time. Ice looked away first, but not before seeing the crescent moon reflected in Xue's dark, dark eyes. "...Good night," he mumbled abruptly, turning to go. A quiet call from Xue made him turn back. The Asian had sat up, staring at him with the shadow of a smile in his eyes.

"Good night," he replied, nodding. "Be safe, sleep well... Ice." Ice gave him an awkward wave, before slipping into the dark water and swimming away again.


End file.
